Our last day in the Amazon, and it was an early start again, breakfast at 6:30 am and in the canoe at 7 am. It was a chill morning. We stayed in the canoe for about three and a half hours plying a small creek off the lake.
We saw again three kinds of monkeys – the red howler monkeys, who are very loud; the spider monkey; and the cut capuchin monkey.
We saw a boa constrictor and a Amazon Whip Snake about which our guide had a story. He grew up in the Amazon, and he encountered a whip snake. He took it by its tail end but it whipped back up into his face. We thought it was probably like a bitch slap. Apparently, the elders tell children not to lie or the snake will whip you.
We saw several species of birds: a stinky turkey which is really a Hoatzin; an anhinga, which resembles a cormorant; slate-colored hawks; some kind of vulture; a lapwing; greater anis, of which there a lot; and a ringed kingfisher.
The best, though, was seeing the white-throated Tucan. There two of them, and they were in the canopy and difficult to spot. But they have a very distinctive call, kind of like the scarlet macaw.
As we were nearing the lake, we heard alligators grunting so we checked in out. Our guide stepped up on the tippy-top of the canoe (not inside it) to see what the commotion was. All of once, we saw water splashing and lots of noise. He said it was a caimen attempting to eat its young but only got the end of the tail of a juvenile. We didn’t actually see it, but we heard it. There was one nearby and the guide ascertained that it was a “monster” because of the grunt/growl we heard.
We also saw the blue morpho butterfly. It’s the largest butterfly in the Amazon with a wingspan reaching up to 8 inches. They are known for the spectacular blue color on the topside of their wings, which is actually not due to a pigment, but the configuration of scales reflecting light in a way that produces an apparent iridescent blue color. And was it beautiful!
We also went through an ecosysystem that featured the tallest palm tree in the Ecuadorian rain forest. I forgot the name of it.
Our guide, at one point during the trip, used a machete to clear a narrow path through the creek for us to pass. We went through a “tunnel” before we got to the end. It wasn’t really the end but the weeks had totally overtaken the creek, so we turned back.
We got back to our lodge around 11 am, and discussed whether we should move forward with our itinerary because the State Department issues a warning and escalated the level of risk to 3 – reconsider travel. Consular services are no longer provided in Quito but only in Guayaquil, and they urged everyone to remain in place.
So what to do? We’re flying back to Quito tomorrow. The hotel manager says the highway from the airport to the hotel is open today, and the hotel is safe. We’re supposed to be picked up by another tour operator Sunday morning to go to Mindo in the Cloud Forest for five days. Haven’t heard from them yet – it’s like a four-hour drive to the northeast so the situation there may be different.
Right before lunch, we got to watch about six young river otters play and fish in front of our lodge. We’re so far removed from all the other crap – in Quito and the U.S. (overturning Roe v. Wade makes me sick and angry).
Scott, the guy from Michigan we eat with, said at lunch that the Ecuador congress had introduced some of legislation to impeach the president but I can’t find anything about it when I consult my news sources so who knows what’s going to happen?
We chose not to participate in the afternoon activity, which would required tromping through the jungle again and then up, god knows how many steps, to an observation deck that is above the canopy.
So we napped, I did the blog and rested. Tomorrow is a travel day – two hours out in a paddled canoe then two hours more in the motorized canoe, then the airport and a 40-minute flight back to the real world.
I did not take my camera or phone with me this morning so I’m posting the few photos Beth got on her phone. It’s nearly impossible to photography anything in the jungle from a moving canoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment